"Is Mia settled in?" he asks, no hey son, how are you? Not anymore.
"Yes, she's in bed. She's asked to be present when mom gets here and I agreed. She's to sit on the sofa and not move." I'm telling him because he'll make sure she stays put.
He nods. "I'll sit beside her."
"No you won't, you'll take one of the armchairs, I will sit on the sofa. I want you far away from mom as possible."
His eyes narrow into slits. "Fine. The sooner she gets here the quicker we can get this shit done."
He's not the only one. I want answers and then I want to forget that Martin ever existed, that fucker has caused enough pain and suffering to last a lifetime. "Mom should be here any minute. Let me get Mia."
"I'm getting a beer."
I shake my head. "Make yourself at home why don't you. Get me one while you're at it."
"Boy, when did I become your slave?"
"Since you're in my house helping yourself to my beer."
Walking into the bedroom, I see Mia sitting there, her entire face lit up with the smile she has, she has a book in her hand and opened. She's been reading, why on earth do I find that sexy?
"Dad's here."
She nods. "I heard. Is he okay?"
"Yep, he's helping himself to some beer. We're waiting on mom to arrive." I take the book from her hands and place it down on the nightstand. "He's still sore." I tell her before she can even ask.
"Is he taking his pills?"
I give her a 'what do you think' look as I pull the comforter off of her. "He's never taken drugs, it's just not something he'll ever do." I lift her into my arms. "There's no point in saying anything."
"Your mother's here," Dad calls out and Mia's eyes widen at the anger in his tone.
"Hey Harrison, hey Marline," Mia says as I place her down on the sofa. Dad grabs the blanket off the chair and passes it to me.
"How are you feeling?" Mom asks her, sitting down on one of the armchairs, Dad takes a seat on the opposite one.
"I'm better, glad to be home."
"That's good. How bad is Hudson annoying you?" Mom laughs at her own words, pissing me off in the process.
I reach for the beer that dad left on the table for me as Mia pulls the blanket over her and gets comfortable beside me.
"She wouldn't be in this situation had it not been for you and that fucking boyfriend of yours," Dad bites out.
Fucking A, we're starting early.
"How is it my fault?" she asks naively.
"Dad," I warn, I know him too well, he's about to go in on her.
"No Son, I've waited long enough for this shit."
Mom waves me off. "Let him say whatever it is he's dying to say."
I sit back against the sofa and let them at it.
"Since when did you become so stupid? Not your fault. Marline, it is your fault. You were sleeping with the fucker. Especially after everything he'd done. You told him everything about those closest to you." Dad's utterly disgusted. As much as he and Mom's marriage never worked, he actually respected her a hell of a lot, well until now that is.
"I never knew that he had hurt Mia."
"Bullshit," I say through clenched teeth, pissed that she's even saying that shit. "You fucking knew."
Mom's face hardens, she knows that she's fucked up.
"You damn well knew what that fucking asshole did to Mia, you heard everything Marline so don't bullshit us with that shit that you had no idea. You just didn't want to believe that he could do that. At least be fucking honest." Dad's tone is one of barely contained rage.
"Yes, I believed him when he said that Mia was mistaken."
Mia's hand rests on my leg, my mom's basically called her a liar to her face and she's comforting me?
"When did you become so gullible?" Dad's face is scrunched up in disgust. "You went against your own son, and you have the nerve to call me a bastard."
"Mom, you've fucked up. You helped that murderer kill even more people, and you can't see what you've done." It's as though I'm talking to a wall.
She crosses her arms over her chest and sits back in her seat. She's not saying anything.
"This is getting us nowhere," Mia says. "Marline, I know you never intended telling him things, but you trusted him. You placed your trust in the wrong person. We're all guilty of doing that."
Mom's face falls and I see the guilt written all over it. "I should have known."
"Maybe, I think Hudson believes that you chose Martin over him."
Her eyes widen. "I never."
"You chose to believe Martin over Hudson," Mia explains softly. "Your judgment was off and that's what you need to apologize for. You need to make us understand why you chose to believe him."
Fuck, how can Mia put it so eloquently?
"I was stupid," Mom replies. I've never heard her be so vulnerable before.
"You were in love," Mia responds. "I understand that, hell we all do. You were blinded by love and by doing so you hurt your son. You have to make amends for that."
She instantly nods. "I will, I've messed up and I'm going to spend the rest of my life making up for it."
"You hurt Harrison..." Mia begins.
Mom cuts her off. "He hurt me."
Mia shakes her head. "I understand that you were hurt but Marline, he told you from the very beginning how your marriage would be. Did he lie to you?"
Mom thinks about it for a while, her jaw tensing as she shakes her head.
"He cheated on you multiple times, I can't imagine how that made you feel but Marline, he fell in love with my mom after you fell in love with Martin. Don't you think that's got to hurt? Hmm? That was his son you were sleeping with."
"I didn't set out to be with him. In fact, I pushed him away for a very long time. I knew who he was from the very beginning."
Mia shifts in her seat and I glance down at her, she looks worried. "Mia?" I question, wondering what's going on.
"Marline, did you tell Martin where my mom was?"
I close my eyes as I hear dad's sharp intake of breath. Fuck.
"I'm so sorry, Mia."
I open my eyes and stare at my mom in horror. Why the fuck would she do that?
"Marline, I have no words." I can hear the tears in dad's voice. "You went too far. What did Tina ever do to you?"
Mom's eyes flash with anger. "She took you from me."
I've had enough of this shit. "Mom." My voice is hard. "She didn't take Dad from you. You were fucking Martin long before she came along. Why did you tell him where she was?"
She shrugs. "I never intended for him to kill her. We were talking about your father and her, how they were separated, I told him that Tina was living in the motel."
"How did you know where she was staying?" Dad demands and it's a good question, not many knew where she was living as her and dad were in the midst of getting back together.
"I met Martin across the street from the motel, I watched her go into her room."